While the sanctions may not seem immediately harsh or shocking — as they quite carefully avoid striking into Russia's gas sector — they do put the oil sector in a predicament. Because certain technologies can no longer be exported, offshore and deep sea drilling will be affected. This specifically targets the state-owned oil giant Rosneft, which is currently engaged in an oil deal with ExxonMobil in the Arctic Sea, that could potentially generate 9 billion barrels.

"Exxon relations with Rosneft are a deep cooperation designed for decades. However, if the US adopts legal measures, Exxon might be forced to stop or suspend cooperation or sharply restrict it," explained Nekipelov. Even more boldly, he said, "As far as we know, Exxon does not have plans to stop cooperation with Rosneft, and we hope the situation will not go that far."

The Wire reached out to ExxonMobil to confirm this sentiment. However, Exxon had little to say, replying only, "We don’t have any comment on the media reports. We are assessing the impact of the sanctions."

While the sanctions are certainly more harsh than we have seen in the past, Nekipelov believes they still cannot effectively halt the oil sector in Russia. "The sector is strong enough and will overcome the difficulties. Sanctions do not mean an immediate stop in any processes, the work will go on."

Oil prices were up only slightly on Wednesday morning. Nymex WTI crude oil futures were up just under 0.5 percent, or 49 cents, to $101.45 per barrel. Analysts at Commerzbank offered one explanation for the tiny jump, "There is very little chance of Russia responding to the West’s sanctions by curbing its oil shipments since the country is too heavily reliant on the revenues generated by the oil export business."

We could see oil jump a bit higher, but not just because of deceased shipments. Because the sanctions also target long term investments, this lack of investment could also affect prices, pushing them up over time.